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Monday, November 07, 2016

The argument, made by several chroniclers of the game, is that there was no standout performance by a starting pitcher in the AL this year, opening the door for a standout reliever to claim the prize. The voters are literally saying “since we can’t pick between the two best pitchers in the league, we’ll give it to a third pitcher who wasn’t as good.”
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In what universe does it make sense to penalize a pitcher for being the best, but only the best by a little bit? Michael Phelps gets the gold whether he wins by .10 seconds or .01 seconds. ​​

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

The one knock on Betts was his arm. It appears that knock is no longer valid.

“I didn’t know I could really do that,” Betts said. “I think we were all kind of surprised there.”

For the second straight night, the Red Sox used an eighth-inning defensive play to preserve its advantage in a crucial game. With the Blue Jays beating the Angels on Tuesday, the Red Sox needed—and got—a win to stay tied with the Blue Jays atop the American League East.

Betts said he knows his arm has gotten stronger in the outfield, and he’s been able to get more backspin on his throws. It all showed in a tangible way as Kiermaier planted his face on the ground in frustration after his tying run was wiped off the bases just as soon as he got the hit.

“Just kind of in shock there at third base how I got thrown out,” Kiermaier said. “I watched the video after the game and saw he made an absolutely perfect throw. I always want to put the pressure on the defense, and it’s going to take a perfect throw to throw me out. In this moment, he made an absolutely perfect throw.”

Wednesday, August 17, 2016

“He has not changed his approach in the four-hole,” said Farrell. “He doesn’t take on any added significance to the role or the spot in the lineup. He’s in some kind of spot right now the way he’s seeing the baseball, the way he’s making such hard contact.”

Monday, August 15, 2016

The 23-year-old Betts is one of the game’s rising stars, and he is hitting his way into the American League’s Most Valuable Player Award discussion.
Following his 4-for-6 display on Sunday, Betts had a slash line of .313/.353./.561 with 91 runs scored, 34 doubles, five triples, 26 homers and 84 RBIs.